Ableton Officially Announces Live 9, Unveils Push Controller

Not to toot our own horn or anything, but XLR8R sent ripples across the internet earlier this week when we shared a "leaked" video showcasing some features on the forthcoming Ableton Live 9. The video wasn't exactly official, but have no fear, the folks at Ableton have gone ahead and confirmed that the latest version of its DAW will finally arrive at the beginning of 2013. The announcement also came with word of the software company's first piece of hardware, a controller called Push.

Both forthcoming products boast a bevy of upgrades and features, which are too numerous to outline in complete detail here. Suffice it to say that Live 9 arrives with improvements to the automation functionalities, a more efficient built-in browser, brand-new stock effects (including the Glue Compressor we saw in the aforementioned video), a new version of Max for Live that comes with Live 9 Suite, and much more. Pricing for Live 9 starts at $99 for the Intro version, with the Suite coming in at $749.

As for the controller, Push is described as a "hardware instrument designed to solve an old problem: how to make a song from scratch." Utilizing 64 velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads in conjunction with 11 touch-sensitive, "endless" knobs, the machine is touted as being able to make quick work out of producing with its "folded" keyboard arranged across color-coordinated pads, streamlined button layout, portable-but-durable structure, and seamless integration with Live 9. Push, which will arrive around the same time as the new Live, also comes with a copy of Ableton Live 9 Intro, which—at the cost of $599—is kind of a steal for anyone getting started with music production.

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What's more, Live 8 is now on sale! So, if you just can't wait until next year, you can hit Ableton's shop to score its most current DAW at 25% off the usual price, which also comes with a free upgrade to 9 as soon as it's released. Now that you've digest all of that information, you can check out a couple of teaser videos for each of Ableton's forthcoming new products below.